"Who's there?"
Yan Shanshui startled and turned toward the door. She heard leaves rustling against one another, accompanied by faint, continuous creaks like wood slowly bending.
Then a huge, mottled shadow blocked the light at the doorway.
It was a pine tree that had bent at the waist.
Its fully bowed trunk resembled a steeply arched bridge, making her wonder whether it was still a pine that would sooner snap than bend. As the mass of needles on its main crown drooped to the ground, its branches slowly parted, revealing a stretch of rough, deeply cracked bark on the trunk.
Three slits slowly opened in the bark. Green light shone through the lower two, like a pair of eyes, while the upper slit resembled tightly pressed lips.
A huge, crude, upside-down face.
Like a tall, thin giant bending at the waist and leaning forward with his head tilted upside down, he stared expressionlessly at Yan Shanshui inside the shop. He opened his mouth again and repeated, slowly and awkwardly:
"Put it down."
"This..." Yan Shanshui stared in shock at the pine-tree face blocking the shop entrance. "A Tree Demon?" she murmured.
She had heard about the history of the Cultivation World. Since the great calamity in ancient times, creatures known as "spirits" had ceased to appear in the world. Outer Demons permeated heaven and earth, and without a Dharma Body inheritance bestowed by the upper realm, nothing could cultivate or absorb spiritual energy.
Only humans, born with intelligence, were eligible to receive the Dharma Body inheritances of the upper realm's many traditions.
Even animals could not cultivate and awaken intelligence, let alone plants.
Yet right before her eyes stood a Tree Demon that had awakened intelligence!
"Could he be from ancient times..."
The possibility instinctively occurred to Yan Shanshui, but then she frowned slightly. "No, his aura isn't even as strong as mine. He's a little weaker than me..."
If he were a Tree Demon who had awakened intelligence in ancient times and cultivated ever since, how could he be only this little bit stronger than her?
Besides, judging by its height, this pine tree was not very old. It had probably only been planted here a few years ago and might even be younger than her. His speech was so labored and awkward, too; he must have learned to speak only recently.
That left only one possibility-he had awakened intelligence not long ago.
"How did you awaken intelligence?" Yan Shanshui could not help asking.
The brow of the pine-tree face slowly furrowed, as though he were considering how to answer. After a long while, he finally said at a leisurely pace, "He hasn't allowed me to tell anyone."
"He?" Hearing that reference, Yan Shanshui could not help asking, "Who is he? The person who helped you awaken intelligence?"
The pine-tree face pondered sluggishly for another while before saying, "I'm not telling you."
Yan Shanshui's eyes shifted slyly. "All right, I won't ask, then. But you're willing to guard this calligraphy and painting shop for him because you want to repay him for helping you awaken intelligence, right?"
"Yes," the pine-tree face answered slowly.
"Aha! So it really was the owner of this shop who helped you awaken intelligence!" Yan Shanshui exclaimed, raising a hand and pointing at the pine-tree face as though she had uncovered a great secret.
"Huh? I didn't say that..."
The pine-tree face creased in apparent confusion. Only after pondering sluggishly for a while did he realize she had tricked him into talking. His expression slowly grew conflicted and helpless, with a trace of grievance, like a bullied child. "Humans... are so sneaky," he said slowly.
"Don't worry. I was just asking." Yan Shanshui waved her hands, then asked, "What did you want me to put down? This wastepaper?"
"Those are his things. You can't take them," the pine-tree face said slowly, before suddenly adding warily, "Don't try to trick me again. I'll notice."
"Oh, all right."
Yan Shanshui nodded and tossed the crumpled balls of wastepaper in her hand into the nearby wastebasket. Raising both hands, she said, "I've put everything back. Is that all right now?"
The pine-tree face slowly nodded, the pine needles covering his head swaying along like a woolly hat. "As long as you don't take his things, it's all right," he said slowly.
Seeing that the Tree Demon seemed to have only just awakened intelligence, was like a child, and bore no ill will, Yan Shanshui asked with a smile, "But I've been breathing, too. I'm taking some of the shop's air away with me. Does that count?"
The pine-tree face froze, apparently stumped by her question. He pondered in confusion for quite a while before saying, "I don't think so."
"That's good." Yan Shanshui smiled. "How old are you? Can you tell me that?"
"I don't know." The pine-tree face shook his head.
Yan Shanshui blinked. "All right. It looks like you've only just awakened intelligence and haven't really started cultivating yet. Didn't the person who awakened your intelligence pray to the upper realm for a Dharma Body inheritance for you?"
"What's that?" the pine-tree face asked curiously.
Yan Shanshui thought for a moment, then said, "A way for you to cultivate and take human form."
"Become human?" The pine-tree face's eyes lit up, seemingly full of longing.
"Yes. Do you want to?" Yan Shanshui asked with a smile.
The pine tree tilted his head and thought for a while before saying, "He never said I could become human..."
"Then why don't you ask him yourself?" Yan Shanshui said, smiling.
"I don't know why, but whenever he notices me, I can't move," the pine tree said in a low voice. "Still, I only want to quietly guard his door for him."
Hearing this, Yan Shanshui suddenly grew rather fond of this endearingly simple pine tree. She could not help saying, "Then I'll ask him for you tomorrow. If he agrees, I'll build a ritual altar for you and pray to the upper realm for a Dharma Body inheritance. How does that sound?"
The pine-tree face considered blankly for a few seconds, then said, "You're a good person. Thank you."
"Hehe, of course I am." Yan Shanshui laughed, then suddenly asked with interest, "By the way, if I remember correctly, pine trees are both male and female, right? If you could take human form, would you want to be a man or a woman?"
"I don't know."
The pine tree frowned, seemingly considering the difference between men and women. After thinking for a while, he said, "He's a man, too. Can I become like him?"
"He's a man?" Yan Shanshui had not expected this simple-minded pine tree to reveal that on his own when she had not even tried to pry. Could it really be that young man who seemed like an ordinary mortal?
She could not help smiling. "Do you want him to like you, too?"
The pine tree thought again, then nodded.
"Then become a woman," Yan Shanshui said with a grin. "Normal men all like women. If you become a woman, maybe he'll like you."
"All right." The pine-tree face nodded, his expression turning resolute.
"I'm off, then," Yan Shanshui said with a smile. "I'll come see you again tomorrow. Goodbye."
She glanced at the surveillance camera and, without continuing to search for a way to erase the footage, walked straight out of the calligraphy and painting shop. Its owner was no ordinary mortal anyway.
Once the pine tree saw her leave, he straightened back up and slowly closed his eyes and mouth, seemingly becoming that ordinary pine tree once more.